Abstract
This paper investigates how natural landscapes—particularly wetlands—were conceptualized in the religious worldview of cuneiform culture in the Ancient Near East. Wetlands were a defining feature of the Mesopotamian environment and held significant cultural and symbolic meaning. This liminal landscape also forms a crucial component of global cultural heritage, appearing in mythology, folk traditions, and the mental maps of indigenous communities across time and space. The present study aims to understand the ontological status of wetlands in ancient Mesopotamia and delineate the means by which the symbolic wetlands are constructed. Such reinterpretation is essential for integrating early Mesopotamian evidence into the environmental humanities and for reassessing the interplay between urbanization, religious practice, and ecological awareness. Drawing from Assyriology, environmental history, literary studies, and anthropology, this study contributes to ongoing conversations about nature, space, and landscape in cultural and historical contexts. The methods include philological and textual analysis of ritual and religious texts, supported by critical interpretive frameworks. Knowledge activities involve close reading and theoretical reconceptualization of how nature—particularly marshes and reed-beds—was framed within sacred discourse. The results reveal a nuanced and multifaceted view of nature as both divine and threatening, mediated through temple practices and ritual language. This reinterpretation underscores the role of religious texts in shaping human-nature relations and highlights the richness of Mesopotamian thought on ecology for cross-disciplinary dialogue.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Indigenous Spiritualities in Global Perspective
KEYWORDS
Ancient Mesopotamia, Wetlands, Sacred Spaces, Ritual and Landscape, Human–Nature Relation
